Category Archives: Stimulus Funding

William Mathewson talks to League members about the Open Meetings Act at an education session Wednesday in Ann Arbor. View more photos here.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan – The first of a series of new training weeks kicked off today with sessions on the state’s Freedom of Information Act, Open Meetings Act and Parliamentary Procedure. The training week concept is a new service the League is providing to bring our vast array of education services to various parts of the state. League members and non-members can register for a whole week of trainings or pick and choose the topics that interest them.

The training week sessions will continue in Ann Arbor Thursday and Friday. Go here for details. Today’s sessions on the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were led by William Mathewson, general counsel for the League. A training about parliamentary procedure is taking place later this evening and will be led by Professioinal Parliamentarian Coco Siewert. The League will also host a free meet-up gathering for League members from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, at our Ann Arbor office, 1675 Green Road, following the Thursday afternoon education session.

Future training weeks are planned in Frankenmuth, Feb. 14-15; Kalamazoo, March 13-15; Lansing, April 24-26; Mackinaw City, May 15-17 and Muskegon, June 5-7. Topics planned at these future sessions include finance for the non-finance municipal official, service consolidation and shared services, and engaging your citizen change makers. You can register for the sessions here.

The National League of Cities, State and Local Legal Center will be hosting a webinar on July 19 from 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm to discuss major cases from the Supreme Court’s current term affecting local and state governments.

The webinar speakers are Paul Clement, who argued the Affordable Care Act (Health Care Reform law) and the Arizona immigration cases before the Court, and Patricia Millet, who argued three cases impacting states or local governments before the Court this term.

This third and final step of the three-step EVIP process requires that by May 1, 2012, a local unit of government must develop an “employee compensation plan”. This plan must show the intent to implement a number of employee compensation criteria. This applies to any new, modified, or extended employment agreements for employees, who are not covered under an employment contract. View additional details about this requirement here.

Join the League, for this interactive webinar, which will focus on the third and final part of the EVIP on Employee Compensation, as well as PA152, and how to move forward. Go here to register for this free webinar. Webinar speakers include the League’s Anthony Minghine, associate executive director and COO; and Heather Van Poucker, director of information and policy research. Those with questions about the webinar should contact the League’s Katie Holda at kholda@mml.org or (734) 669-6352.

You can learn more about EVIP and other issues impacting Michigan’s cities, villages and urban townships, during the League’s annual Capital Conference taking place March 20-21 in Lansing. For details click here. To register for Capital Conference in time for the Feb. 23 early bird deadline, go here.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at mbach@mml.org or (734) 669-6317.

The Michigan Municipal League is the one clear voice for Michigan communities. Through advocacy at the state and federal level, we proactively represent Michigan municipalities to help them sustain highly livable, desirable, and unique places within the state.